"Rollin' Rec" Brings Fun And Games To Parks Each Week
Wednesday, July 13th, 2022
"I never knew this park existed," said Dalton teacher Kimberly Cotnam as she sat under a tree in Joan Lewis Park on Wednesday and watched her son play volleyball with two Parks and Rec staff members and another child. "This is the second time coming out to this park, but we've been to three or four (Rollin' Rec events)."
Cotnam and her son Isaac were visiting Joan Lewis Park to take part in the weekly Rollin' Rec event, a new summer program started this year to give kids a chance to play games with each other and also introduce families to parks they may not have had a chance to visit before. Rollin' Rec happens on Wednesdays from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm at a different park each week. The program started in June and will run until July 27th.
"We wanted to do this and bring kids to the parks," said Victor Rodriguez, an athletic coordinator with the Dalton Parks and Recreation Department. "This park, (Joan Lewis Park), people come here to play soccer but not as many come to use the playground so we’re trying to introduce these parks to the community so they can come out and do these events with us and then maybe come back another day to just play and use the parks."
Each Rollin' Rec event has plenty of different options for games that kids can play. Parks and Rec employees bring equipment for badminton, volleyball, spike ball, four square, wiffle ball, basketball, soccer and ultimate frisbee as well as a disc game called kan jam. The games are led by parks and rec employees who can help kids learn the ropes or just be an extra player.
"It's great, my son definitely enjoys it," said Cotnam. "It gets him active during the summer and interacting with other kids. I'm a teacher so we have the whole summer off, but he needs to interact with other kids."
"Now he's just like, 'today's Wednesday' and he gets up and gets off the TV and says, 'let's go,'" Cotnam said. "He knows what day is Wednesday to come and play."
Joan Lewis Park is located at 700 Fourth Avenue. There are many apartments within walking distance of the park, and organizers expected that kids in the neighborhood would be the primary draw for the first Rollin' Rec event that was held at the park in June. But most of the kids who came to play came from further away just to take part.
"We had 10 to 15 people at the first one. The second time we had 20 kids at Lakeshore Park." Rodriguez said. "When we put this together, we were thinking of offering parks where we could bring in the kids who lived here, so we were thinking we’d be bringing in the kids from these apartments but we’re noticing that kids are actually driving to come here with their parents."
The Parks and Rec Department hopes to keep Rollin' Rec rolling on in future years, perhaps offering the program twice a week in future summers. The next Rollin' Rec will be at 11:00 am at Lakeshore Park (1212 Dennard Drive) on Wednesday, July 20th. After that, there will be a Rollin' Rec at 11:00 am at Al Rollins Park (521 Threadmill Road) on Wednesday, July 27th. The events are free and open to kids of all ages. No reservations are required.
